MORE FROM THE HEARING

Several health care providers testified to the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee on Feb. 7.

They included Idaho providers who both opposed and supported the bill.

The Idaho Academy of Family Physicians, which represents hundreds of Idaho doctors, opposes the bill, according to testimony.

Several health care provid- ers from other states offered their opinions — including an ear-nose-throat physician from Missouri, a Tennessee child and adolescent psychiatrist who has weighed in on other states’ transgender-care legislation; and a doctor from Georgia who was “discredited as an expert” on trans health care in a 2020 court ruling, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.

Bouquets:

GUEST SUBMISSION:

•“A Bouquet to the generous and loving people of Sandpoint and North Idaho. On Saturday, Feb. 4, the cleaning crew at the Panida Theater hosted a food drive for the Bonner Community Food Bank at Super 1 for six hours. Grocery shoppers donated 1,291 pounds of food, serving over 1,000 meals. Many thanks to the Panida, Super 1 (especially Steve and the staff), the Food Bank (especially John and Debbie), and the community-minded patrons who helped to make this food drive a success.”

— By Jim Healey

GUEST SUBMISSION:

• “Thank you, Donna Price, for organizing the Bonner County Valentine Cards for Seniors Project. Thank you also to the participating area businesses that serve as drop-off points for the valentines. It is such a kindness to the elders to be remembered in this way.”

— By Cynthia Mason Barbs:

• The city of Sandpoint should begin reaching out to city residents in a meaningful way to get an honest reading of the community regarding “the Couplet,” which is the revamped version of “the Curve” that they’re now pushing down our throats again. Back in the first half of the 2010s, before our City Council voted down this project for good (or so we thought), the city placed hundreds of door-hanger surveys on homes, distributed disposable cameras to poll what people liked and didn’t like about Sandpoint, held two dozen special meetings and eventually landed on the consensus that this project wasn’t right for Sandpoint. This is a much more comprehensive way to arrive at a consensus than the occasional online survey and workshops that, frankly, don’t draw that many participants. Yes, it’s up to city residents to be diligent about what changes our city leaders propose, but city staff should also make it as easy as possible for people to share their opinions about a highway potentially being strung through the middle of town — especially when ITD’s own analysis suggests there won’t be any capacity problems on that stretch of U.S. 2 until 2055.Iencourageyoualltoemailyour city councilors as well as City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton to share your opinion about this project. Find their emails at sandpointidaho.gov

Dear editor,

Two people are suffering from personal anger, depression and fear, which they have not chosen for themselves. They seek help from experts in different areas. One of them is told that help is not available without a mandatory waiting period, parental permission and a doctor’s exam, interviews with the police department and a mandatory video on the effects of treatment. Treatment is available only out-of-state and is expensive. The decision must be made soon.

The other one simply buys an automatic weapon.

The first person will despair over the treatment, lose their job and their partner, but benefit from the effect of the treatment for the rest of their life. The other one will kill more than four people in a grammar school and most likely spend years in jail, depressed, angry and fearful.

Should we help them both by making health care easier? By making it harder to buy guns?

Nancy Gerth Sandpoint

Filters…

Dear editor, I’m of an age where my filters on social discourse are getting worn thin. I recently read an article that reduced to a relatively few words my position on many, many things. The piece said, “We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won’t be offended.”

I am not saying that I’m wholly in either category, but I am tired of being told that people shouldn’t use logic and critical thought to make decisions that shape their lives. There is a tiny minority of GOP elected officials in just about every level of government that promote themselves as fighting for “freedom,” when just about everything they do denies freedoms to specific groups but not including old white men.

They’ve taken away a woman’s freedom of choice; they’ve taken away minorities’ freedom to vote; they’re trying to take away teachers’ freedom of speech. If I were a female minority teacher I’d be pissed. And, we’ve seen what happens when you piss off a large group of women — they vote. That misstep cost the GOP a “Red Tsunami” in 2022.

Call, text and write your representatives, and let them know where you stand loudly and frequently.

Gil Beyer Sandpoint

Dear editor, I just saw on KREM2 news a story about a girl who was bitten on the leg, then hand and wrist by a coyote while skiing on Schweitzer Mountain. She has had to get rabies shots plus others.

Perhaps, however, this could be a new ad for the North Idaho ski area: “How would you like to ski and hunt at the same time?”

James Richard Johnson Clark Fork

Dear editor,

Hey, as to the Curve Part II article in last week’s Reader [News, “Remember ‘the Curve’?,” Feb. 2, 2023], I’m all for it!

Why should we put those resources into repaving the existing city streets that have been abused to the point that they make Forest Service roads look like I-90? I, for one, enjoy wondering if my car’s tires, bearings, joints and frame will hold up another year to those poorly patched potholes, utility digs, ledges and crumbled asphalt all over town.

And, anything to better facilitate more people from Washington, California, Texas, Virginia, Florida and other places who are moving here, investing in land and speculating the cost of housing through the roof so locals can barely afford to keep a roof over their heads the better.

And who cares about the feeling of community? We have to make way for progress, right… for others?

Lawrence Fury Sandpoint

Dear editor,

During the time I lived in Florida, it was not unusual for an alligator to crawl out of one of the lakes dotting central Florida and be discovered under a car at an auto dealership. The local news station would be alerted and send a reporter and cameraman to cover it, and before long an old man driving a beat-up ’56 Chevy pickup showed up, armed with little more than a roll of duct tape, which he used to subdue the gator.

Of course, gators didn’t always cooperate and a wrestling match often ensued, but the old guy was pretty nimble and knew how to avoid getting bit by a thrashing gator. Once the gator was taped up it was tossed into the back of the Chevy and off they went. The reporter closed his report by noting the gator would be euthanized since it had lost its fear of humans.

I always thought it made more sense to kill the gator first, then haul it off. Why risk Gator Man’s life if you’re going to kill the gator anyway? To answer my own question, it was about optics. No one wants to see an alligator killed on TV, but most people can accept killing one if it’s done out of sight.

I suspect most people feel the same way about hunting geese at City Beach. They want to get rid of them, but not kill them — or at least see them killed. But we’ve tried everything from capturing and relocating to plastic coyotes, and nothing has worked. Besides, there is no shortage of geese in the area. They own the lake; all we humans ask for is a small space at City Beach where we can walk without stepping in feces.

Let the hunters take a shot at it.

Dave Mundell Sandpoint

Dear editor,

In honor of the City Beach geese and the Sandpoint coyotes, a few quotes to reflect on:

“We can judge the heart of man by his treatment of animals.”

— Emmanual Kant

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

“There is no fundamental difference between man and animals in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, happiness and misery.”

— Charles Darwin

Thank you,

Evie Leucht Sandpoint

many reasons to make it easier to vote! Our democracy depends upon it.

I suggest Mr. Alfieri proposes bills that actually make a positive difference to Idahoans instead of making a problem where there is none.

Ranel Hanson Sandpoint

Dear editor,

On Monday, Feb. 13, at 5 p.m., a Northwest coalition including Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) will host a People’s Hearing on Canadian company TC Energy’s proposal to expand fracked natural gas exported through the aging Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline and compressor stations that span Idaho, Washington and Oregon. This hybrid town hall, convened online and in-person at the Gardenia Center in Sandpoint, features speakers such as Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and physicians, faith leaders, environmental and climate advocates, and other concerned community members.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which did not hold a public hearing on the controversial GTN Xpress pipeline expansion, could approve this project as soon as Feb. 16.Thousands of citizens, tribal organizations and government officials have commented to FERC against the proposal during 2022, including California, Oregon and Washington attorneys general, Oregon Sen. Merkley and Ron Wyden, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Dear editor,

The Alfieri Bill is an example of the foolishness of some legislators. Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene, alleges that absentee voting allows fraud, but there is no evidence of this. What it does do is make it easier for citizens to vote. What are these guys afraid of? Is it a healthy democracy they want to undermine? Is it their wish to bring us closer to an authoritarian government? Do they fear they will lose any fair election?

Whatever the reason for making it more difficult to vote, it is without legitimate reasons. And there are

Pumping directly under Sandpoint and the Pend Oreille River, GTN Xpress would further threaten rural, Indigenous and low-income communities along the 60-yearplus pipeline route with increased volumes, pollution and releases of flammable, high-pressure gas, like the 23 ruptures and spills of TC Energy’s Keystone tar sands pipeline over the past decade.

GTN Xpress’ additional 3.47 million metric tons of annual carbon emissions also contradict Oregon and Washington laws requiring fossil fuels pollution reductions.

Participants can learn about potential GTN Xpress impacts and provide recorded testimony, by registering to join the virtual conference at bit.ly/peopleshearing_gtn, gathering at the Gardenia Center or contacting WIRT.

Helen

Yost

Wild Idaho Rising Tide Sandpoint